BY Chris Walker, Truthout

“President Donald Trump’s plans to place federal agents in cities across the nation in order to quell uprisings responding to the killings of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement may be an attempt to help Trump win reelection, an expert in fascism recently warned.

“Trump has used partisan language when discussing his decision to send federal officers to various cities. During an interview on Fox News this past weekend, when discussing the cities he claimed are “a mess,” Trump noted they were run “by liberal Democrats.” He also said if his main challenger for the 2020 presidential race, Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden, won, “the whole country would go to hell.”

“According to Jason Stanley, a philosophy professor at Yale University and an expert on fascism, Trump’s strategy is focused on the November election.

“But there’s another component to Trump’s strategy that’s not as obvious: Placing federal officers into cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and New York may actually result in a lower voter turnout.

“Stanley said that it’s possible that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents might be used to suppress voters in these Democratic-leaning cities.”

“One thing we need to worry about is CBP and ICE being used to intimidate people at the polls. I’m not predicting it will happen. I’m not saying it will happen. I’m saying that we have to worry about it,” Stanley added.

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